Archbishop Cronin Moving To Mansion

Archbishop Relocating From Rectory To Mansion

Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin plans to move into a mansion in West Hartford that his predecessor had given up to live in a two-room suite in a retirement home.

Cronin has been living in two rooms in the rectory of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph on Farmington Avenue in Hartford since his installation in January 1992.

The archdiocese scrapped plans to buy as a residence for Cronin a $430,000 house with 12 rooms and an in-ground swimming pool in West Hartford after a storm of negative public reaction.

He has been invited to live rent-free in the mansion at 1109 Prospect Ave. by the religious order that owns it. The archdiocese will pay for utilities and maintenance.

The archbishop will move there next May after the religious order, the Vincentian Fathers, finishes building a new residence for 14 priests in Manchester, the Rev. John P. Gatzak, the archdiocese's communications director, confirmed Friday.

Details on the arrangement were reported in Friday's Catholic Transcript.

The Prospect Avenue property was once owned by the Archdiocese of Hartford and used by Archbishop Henry O'Brien as his residence.

Prospect Avenue, the boundary between Hartford and West Hartford, is a thoroughfare of prestigious houses, including the governor's official residence.

Archbishop John F. Whealon, who succeeded O'Brien, sold the property in 1974 and moved to St. Mary Home, a retirement facility in West Hartford. Whealon died Aug. 2, 1991.

The Vincentian Fathers angered some neighbors on Prospect Avenue last year when they proposed building a 25,000-square-foot residence to use as their New England headquarters. They said the two houses they owned on the West Hartford side of Prospect Avenue were not adequate for the order's needs.

The West Hartford zoning and planning commission turned down the proposal in September, saying the proposed monastery was incompatible with the rest of the avenue, which is designated a

national historic district.

The Transcript reported that the Vincentian Fathers are constructing a new residence at 234 Keeney St. in Manchester to accommodate 14 members of its order. The Manchester property was purchased from the archdiocese for $100,000.

In addition to the property at 1109 Prospect Ave., the order owns a small house in back of a building at 1155 Prospect Ave.. The order's property was assessed at $1.3 million, according to West Hartford town records.

The newspaper quoted the Rev. Chester Mrowka, the Vincentian provincial, or leader, as saying that the West Hartford property will be vacant when the priests move to Manchester.

"Because it was formerly the residence of Archbishop O'Brien, and in gratitude to the Archdiocese of Hartford for bringing the Vincentians to Connecticut and providing so well for us, our congregation decided to invite Archbishop Cronin to use the 1109 Prospect Ave. property for his residence as long as he is archbishop of Hartford," Mrowka said.

Cronin told the Transcript that he planned to move in with his secretary, the Rev. Daniel Plocharczyk.

"The residence will provide more opportunities for me to meet with individuals and groups without further inconveniencing the staff and schedule of the cathedral rectory. The property has been superbly maintained by the Vincentians, and for that I am likewise grateful," Cronin said.